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ruin of innumerable persons that depend upon them: as the Dragon in Revelation, whose fall from heaven drew a train of lesser stars with him. And all inferior magistrates, who by personal commission, or partial connivance, encourage and harden others in sin, and by their power discountenance serious religion, and obstruct the progress of it, heap up damnation to themselves.

And the ministers of the word, who are obliged to watch for the souls of men; and should, like the heavens, by their light, influence and motion, their doctrine and lives, guide and quicken others in the ways of holiness; if by their neglect and wickedness others are lost forever, their account will be most heavy and undoing.

Of this number are those, who by their unholy conversation weaken the authority and efficacy of the Word, and more successfully persuade men to do evil, than by their preaching to do well for we are apt to take deeper impression through the eye, than through the ear, to follow the physician's practice rather than his counsel. These perish not alone in their iniquity. And such who are unfaithful dispensers of the treasures of their Lord, and by loose doctrines corrupt the minds of men, to fancy a mercy in God derogatory to his holiness, that although they live indulgently in sin, they may obtain an easy pardon and happiness at last and such who employ their high commission for low and base ends those who instead of "preaching Jesus Christ, and him crucified," the pure and saving truths derived from the fountain of the gospel, entertain their hearers with flashy conceits, and studied vanities, to give a relish to curiosity, and to have the applause of fools, and obscure the native majesty of the Word, enervate its force, and render it powerless to con

science.

And those who spend their zeal in things of no moment to salvation, and let fly bitter invectives against those that dissent from them in unconcerning matters, by which they harden atheistical scorners in villifying the office of the ministry as a carnal invention, set up and used for secular ends; and induce others to place religion in formalities, and slight colors of it, as if conformity to needless rites, would exclude the defects of substantial holiness.

It is observed in the Chaldee paraphrase, when God was enquiring of Cain concerning Abel, that he charges him, "The voice of thy brother's blood cries unto me" as if Cain were a murderer, not of a single man only, but of a numerous race that might have descended from his brother. Thus a wicked minister will be charged, not only for murdering himself, but as many precious souls as might have been converted and saved, if he had faithfully performed his duty.

And parents that should instil the principles of godliness into

their children in their early age, and season their minds with the knowledge of the Divine laws, to regulate their lives, and make them sensible of their obligations to obey them; that should recommend religion to their affections by an holy and heavenly conversation, if by the neglect of their duty their children are exposed as a prey to the tempter, and ruined forever, it will enhance their last reckoning, and increase the score of their guilt beyond expression.

And masters of families, and all others that have authority and advantage to preserve or reform from evil those that are committed to their care, and to instruct and command them to do what is pleasing to God, and profitable to their souls, will be sadly accountable for those that perish by their neglect.

In short, we see by common experience, that company and mutual consent is a usual motive to sin; and many persons that alone would with abhorrence reject some temptations, yet are sociably sinful. Now all those who by excitation or example lead others to destruction, as they are first in sin will be chief in punishment. We read in the parable of the rich voluptuary, Luke 16. 28. that being in hell, he desired a messenger might be dispatched from the dead to warn his brethren, lest they should come to that place of torment. Is there such charity in hell to the souls of others? No, that furnace always burns with its proper flames, there is not a spark of that divine fire there : but remembering how guilty he had been of their sins, feared that his torments would be increased by their coming thither. Society in endless sorrow does not divide, but reflect them.

Now if damnation for sin be such a misery as is expressed in the scripture by the most violent figures, and words of the heaviest signification; if all the possible tortures suffered here, are but a lenitive to the preparations of wrath in hell; how miserable shall those be, who, as if a single damnation were a light matter, do not only commit sin in their own persons, but are in combination with Satan to corrupt and destroy others, and multiply damnation against themselves? These "treasure up wrath against the day of wrath."

Briefly; The whole process of that day, the arraignment and sentence will be so ordered, the righteousness and reasonableness of the proceedings will be so manifest, as to clear the judge, and confound the guilty. "God will be justified in his sentence, and overcome when he judgeth."

*Non orat pro fratrum salute quâ non tangitur reprobus, sed pro se ne ipsius tormenta ex consortio fratrum augeantur. Brugen.

CHAPTER V.

An excitation to confirm our faith of the eternal judgment. Reason sees the necessity of a future judgment. Divine revelation expressly declares it. Considerations requisite to make faith effectual. The belief of a future judgment clears the honor of God's governing the world, from the imputation of unrighteousness, with respect to the prosperity of the wicked, and the sufferings of the saints. It is a powerful support to the saints in their persecutions. The belief of this is effectual to restrain from secret sins. It is a powerful remedy against the pernicious pleasures of sin. The consideration that the Son of God clothed with our nature shall judge the world, affords great consolation to his people, and is a motive of great terror to the wicked.

I shall now come to apply this great doctrine.

[1.] Let us from what has been discoursed of judgment to come, be excited to confirm our faith in this great and useful doctrine; and by serious and frequent thoughts to apply it to ourselves. Some within the church have only a superficial belief of this, as a point of the religion wherein they were educated, but carnal affections, fear, hope, love, and desire, control their assent as to its operation upon them. They believe in the general, that God is the judge and rewarder of our actions, and in the absence of temptation resolve to obey him: but when a strong trial comes from some temporal good or evil that is present, their faith is negligent and unactive to keep them from sin. Now to make our faith powerful, we must,

1. Confirm it by convincing arguments, that it may be an undoubted assurance, a certain light, directive and persuasive in the course of our lives. Some doctrines of religion that are of an incomprehensible nature, and should be received with silent adoration for the authority of the revealer, are obstinately contradicted by some, upon a vain pretence that nothing is to be believed, that will not endure the rigorous inquisition of reason, and be comprehended by our narrow minds: but reason, though darkened, sees the necessity of a future judgment. Nature and scripture testify there is a God, and that he has a right, and power, and will to distribute the rewards of virtue, and the penalties of vice to his subjects. To deny this, is directly against the implanted notion of the Deity in the heart of man. There is a real difference between moral good and evil, not depending upon opinion, but arising from the the immutable nature of things,

and the eternal law of God. Otherwise considered in itself, it were no more faulty to murder a parent, than to kill a fly; nor to rob a traveller, than to chase a deer. But the conscience of the most profligate wretch would startle at such an assertion. The disposition and admirable order of the world in its various parts, and the vicissitude of seasons, declare to the observing mind, that a most wise, good and powerful God governs and preserves all things by his vigorous influence. And can it be that the Divine Providence, so visibly wise and good in regulating the course of nature, should be defective towards man, the most noble part of the world? And can it be extended to human affairs, if there be no other than the present state, wherein the righteous are afflicted, and wicked prosper? Where sins of the deepest stain and the loudest cry are unpunished; and the sublime and truly heroic virtues are unrewarded? Nay, where vice receives the natural reward of virtue, honor and felicity; and virtue the just wages of vice, disgrace and sufferings? It is necessary, therefore that there be a future state, and a righteous distribution of rewards, according to the good and evil of mens actions here.

The heathens disguised this terrible truth, under the fictions of the infernal judges, Minos, and Rhadamanthus, and acus. And the furies and vultures, and fiery lake, which they thought tormented the wicked in the next world, discover what apprehensions they had of the desert of sin, and the punishment that certainly attended it. The guilty would fain be freed from the terrors of it, and strangle conscience, that is bound over to give testimony in the day of judgment, that they may sin without scruples. But though fear be a troublesome and involuntary passion, they cannot totally extinguish the internal sense and presages of future judgment: but as the motions of courage came upon Sampson at times; so conscience awakened by sharp afflictions, by sudden dangers, and the approaches of death, makes a sad deduction of past sins, and forecasts cruel things: it cites the offender before the enlightened tribunal of heaven, scourges with remorse, and makes him feel even here the strokes of hell. Though the sin be secret, and the guilty person powerful, not within the cognizance or reach of human justice, yet conscience has a rack within, and causes pain and anxiety, by fearful expectations of judgment to come.

And Divine revelation is most express in declaring this great truth. The light of faith is more clear and certain from the infallible Word of God, than the light of reason: before the flood, Enoch in the early age of the world foretold it: Behold the Lord cometh with ten thousand of his saints, to execute judgment upon all, Jude 14. 15. Solomon under the law repeats this * Testimonium animæ naturaliter Christianæ. Tert.

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doctrine, that every secret thing shall be brought unto judgment, whether good or evil, Eccl. 12. And God himself speaks in the sublimest style of majesty, and swears by himself, for our firmer belief, As I live, saith the Lord, every knee shall bow to me, and every_tongue confess to God, Isa. 45. 2. 3. the glory of his justice. From whence the Apostle infers, So then every one of us shall give an account to God for himself, Rom. 14. 10. 11. In the gospel we have distinctly described the person of the Judge, the glorious attendants of his coming, and the manner of his proceedings in that day, Mat. 13. 42. 43, and 24. 30. 31. Now the many predictions in scripture, so visibly accomplished in the person of Jesus Christ, and by him, give infallible assurance that all his promises and threatenings are equally certain, and shall be fulfilled. As sure as our Saviour is come in his humble state, and has accomplished the prophecies of his sufferings, he will come in his glory to judge the world.

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2. That the belief of eternal judgment may be powerful in our hearts and lives, it must be actuated by frequent and serious thoughts. Faith gives life and efficacy to our notions of eternal things, and consideration makes our faith effectual. As the natural life is preserved by the activity of the vital principles, the circulation of the blood, the drawing of the breath, the motion of the pulse; so the spiritual life is maintained by the exercise of grace. The carnal affections dare not appear before reason and conscience, when awakened by the serious believing consideration of eternal judgment. The Evangelists relate, that when our Saviour was asleep in the ship, a sudden tempest arose, that was like to over-set it in the sea: but awakened by the cry of his disciples, "Lord, save us, we perish: he presently rebuked the wind, and a calm ensued." Thus whilst the habit of faith is asleep in the soul, there will be great danger from the concurrent violence of temptations and corruptions; but when it is awakened by lively and powerful thoughts, it does miracles in subduing the strongest lusts. It is monstrous, and beyond all belief, did not sensible experience make it evident, that notwithstanding the minds of men are convinced of the certainty of the Divine judgment, and the recompenses that immediately follow, yet their wills remain unconverted, and their affections cold and unactive in their preparations for it: that such numbers who have so much Christianity as to believe that an irrevocable doom will pass upon the wicked, and so little Christianity, that they cannot justly hope to escape from it, yet are so careless of their duty, nay joyful in their sinful courses, as if judgment were a dreadless thing. What is the cause of this prodigious security? It is the neglect of considering that "we must all appear before the

* An vere extribuit nobis omnia quæ promisit, et de solo die judicii nos fefellit? Aug.

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